


Live for Them, Together

by NachtGraves



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Angst, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Game, Spoilers, Tumblr Prompt, not very romance-centric, post-canon until dangan3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 23:50:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7013563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NachtGraves/pseuds/NachtGraves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been a month after the epilogue and Hajime and the other survivors are still trying to deal with the fallout and moving forward.</p><p>Prompt:  “Do you ever think we should just stop this?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Live for Them, Together

“Hinata, do you… Do you ever think we should just stop this?”

Hajime starts and looks to Kuzuryuu in surprise. The boy was being uncharacteristically sullen. Hajime’s known something was bothering the short boy but Kuzuryuu was never one to be open about his vulnerabilities.

“What do mean?” he asks. He watches Kuzuryuu draw his knees up, fingers bunching in the fabric of his pants.

“What if we’re wasting our time? What if they don’t wake up?”

It takes Hajime a moment. Of all of them left, Kuzuryuu’s been the one that’s held it together the best. He’s been the one who reminds everyone why they’re still going with his abrasive tone and foul language, yet confident and understanding demeanor that made him the unofficial leader of their little group. He’s been the support they’ve all been leaning against, but, Hajime realizes, a single support on its own can bear only so much.

“Then we live for them,” Hajime finally answers, returning to stare at the vast ocean before them. They’re sitting on the beach, where everything had started what felt like so long ago. It’s been about a month since Naegi Makoto, and Kirigiri Kyouko, and the real Togami Byakuya of the Future Foundation left him and the other Remnants of Despair on the real Jabberwock Island and there’s been no changes in their comatose friends. They’re not sure how long they can keep them hooked up. How long they can inject them with fluids and nutrients while their muscles atrophy and they’re hanging onto life by a thread.

“We atone for our past and join Naegi-san and the others in righting our wrongs done by Enoshima’s influence.” Hajime feels Kuzuryuu’s gaze on him and draws his legs up as well, turning his head to rest his cheek on his knees. He catches Kuzuryuu quickly looking away, focusing his gaze on the sea as if he hadn’t just been watching Hajime. His cheeks look warm, and not from the sun sinking towards the horizon.

“How can you be so fucking positive? Even after everything…” Kuzuryuu grumbles.

“Because hope is all that’s keeping me from despair.” When Kuzuryuu turns to him at his statement, Hajime’s lips curve up in a smile of weary acceptance.

Kuzuryuu briefly reaches up to touch the eyepatch over his right eye, clenching his hand into a fist and saying nothing. Upon waking up, the five of them remembered what they had done as Despairs, the memories rushing back and merging with their new memories from the Neo World Program. There was anguish, pain, denial, and eventually slow acceptance. Owari took a while to get her body used to eating again and she’s no longer just skin and bones. Souda shut down from the memories of his remorseless massacres, only recently coming to terms with his actions and slowly becoming the person he was in the NWP. Sonia was in a similar state, worrying over her country and drowning in self-hatred for her actions. Kuzuryuu’s actions took everyone by surprise. No one was able to stop him from gouging out his right eye, Enoshima’s eye he had implanted after her death, after finding a knife. Hajime had thrown up, and cried until he had nothing left to expel. He didn’t want to think about what he had done and nightmares plagued his unconscious mind until he gave up on sleeping altogether eventually, only taking rest when his body was too tired to function, much less dream up twisted versions of events of the past.

Although, through it all, their self-imposed exile and rehabilitation, they don’t let each other fall back into despair. The five of them are all they have left.

Kuzuryuu getting to his feet pulls Hajime from his thoughts.

“I’m going to check on…Peko and the others, and then head to the restaurant for dinner.”

Hajime scrambles to his feet, “Ah, wait, Kuzuryuu.”

“Hm?”

“I just wanted to say, because you made me realize that we’ve been unfair to you. You’ve been shouldering us along but no one’s been helping you stand as tall as you have been.”

“What the fuck’re you talking about, Hinata?” Kuzuryuu scowls.

“I’m just letting you know that you don’t have to carry everyone. We’re in this together. I’m sorry for not realizing it sooner but, well, I guess I just want you to know that if you need to talk to someone and let down your guard for a bit, I—we’re here for you.”

Kuzuryuu blinks his one eye and a dark pink floods his cheeks. He turns his head away, scoffing, “You’re a hundred years too early to try and act all cool, Hinata.”

Hajime laughs, it’s an unfamiliar feelings but he feels lighter. Seeing Kuzuryuu’s little smile that he tries to stifle warms him to the core.

“I’ll see you at the restaurant later then,” Hajime agrees.

Kuzuryuu nods, but just before he walks off, he rubs the back of his neck and avoids looking at Hajime as he asks, “After dinner, if you’re not doing anything…want to hang out here or something?”

Hajime barely stops himself from answering too eagerly and limits himself to nodding, “Sounds great.”

Kuzuryuu leaves and Hajime swears that the shorter boy’s steps were rushed and his ears were burning red.

They were getting there. Hajime knows that tomorrow, someone would have a panic attack, or feel the hopelessness Kuzuryuu admitted to. It would feel like no progress was made. But the little ups amongst all the downs were enough to keep putting a foot forward. They have time and each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my [tumblr](http://nachtgraves.tumblr.com) but I'm gonna be posting all fanfic drabble/ficlet stuff on here too. One more KuzuHina fic to be posted in a few.
> 
> I'm thinking about posting my original fics (but keeping potential drabble/ficlets only on my blog) here too but I'm lazy...


End file.
